I will be very interested in hearing your view on Philly once you have started to settle in.
Personally, Philly, St Louis and other former Rustbelt cities are high on my list of places to move to, once i manage to get out of the Sunbelt. Besides my historical connection(s) to many of these cities I like that they are urban in the North East. Plus, going into the future will be strong communities in the future. Especially if oil (aka cheap energy) ever runs out.
They just have a lot of built in plus in my book...
the midwest is the new northeast. if you are looking for older cities with developed but fatigued infrastructure the boston-nyc-philly-washinton corridor is already heavily played out. the new opportunities are cleveland, detroit, milwaukee, etc. and their smaller brethren
puddles, actually, I disagree. I think some cities are more successful than others for a reason, and that has to do largely with the people that run them, not the people that build them. NYC is far from being "played out".....they are completely unaffected by the housing downturn that is plaguing most of the rest of the country and in fact, their market for architecture new hires is still growing. Some firms still can't hire people fast enough. I personally think Philly is in a great position to absorb people - like myself - who love New York but don't love its cost of living. Unless I make enough money if I move there, then that's fine.
If I'm going to move to someplace like Milwaukee or Detroit, I'm going to need to see progress....and I haven't exactly been looking but those places don't seem to be making leaps and bounds past their coastal city siblings. I'm just saying.
Also, I'd like to mention that I think it's entirely too easy for some people to start threads, especially with the name - well, you know who in the title. I don't even know if last year's "Columbia vs." threads were this out of hand. At least those were funny.
The slightly depressed city that I've always found intriguing is Baltimore. Tons of gorgeous houses going at rock-bottom prices, not so far north that it's as freezing as Boston or NYC, yet only a train ride away from both NYC and DC. Good schools, so therefor educated people, an interesting underground sort of arts scene... it feels like there could be something there, a potential for growth.
end of a crazy week. Will be coming to NYC and partying at the Gaslight Bar on Monday night (invite on Facebook).
We hired a bunch of new people and are now rocking with a full 10 people at AFH HQ, Matt Miller went off to Uganda on Wednesday, we got propositioned by a presidential campaign and found ourselves in Oprah (d'magazine) yesterday. phew.
off to Sydney in 2 weeks - what say an Aussie party for all those down under.
I am awake in the middle of the night because, while I'm not drunk, I was out late, and it was a rough night. Yowsers! I will say there is no better way to end an evening than with a song by Journey, though. "Don't stop believing....."
...in Oprah huh, shouldn't be too hard to figure out, unless that's to obvious...
I am up semi preparing for a Search For Shelter event in MPLS, of which by the way one of the clients is AFH. i am not on that team, but it's nice to see AFH representing.
i will try and take photos. i am working with 5 women, hopefully no HRC supporters or it could be a long weekend.
WonderK: I've been hearing Journey a lot more lately. Perhaps it's because I spend more time in bars and other social establishments than ever before...
Personally i am a fan of St. Louis and Baltimore..Lived in both when i was younger. I love old row house, housing stock. Especially in many of these cities they can be had for cheap. Even before the housing/credit slump. I imagine even better deals now.
Cameron, congrats on the growth. Sounds like some interesting things are in the works.
I love Journey. I actually bought their greatest hits long before they used that song on the last episode of the Sopranos (which I have never seen and just learned about today, by the way).
i didn't see the episode either. in fact, i've never seen the sopranos and don't have cable. but, since 'what happened?' on shows seems to be one of the most impt things people find to talk about (state of our culture, blah blah), i knew that that episode ended with that song at 8:30 the next morning.
I'm still alive, mostly, except my brain has been replaced by a ball of phlegm. This is the worst flu I've ever experiencd and it knocked out the whole family all at once. We've lost a week of life - this coming week is goiing to be tough making up for lost time.
Good job on the phenomemology thread, Steven. Congrats on all the progress Mr. Sinclair.
OK I'm exhausted now, typing this was too much physicial activity at one time. Back to rest.
Oh, I hate Journey. Except Lovin'Touchin'Squeezin'.
glad your alive even if barely lb...and its such a nice day outside too... well i am at the office trying to get some sheet done for a change and you all better watch this video cuz its my favorite DoNtStOpBeReEvInG video and it took me about twenty minutes to find it since there are four hundred thousand pages of don't stop believing videos.
Just stopping in to say, hello, and happy lazy Sunday afternoon! I will leave my apartment eventually, but I'm loving my afternoon of wasting time and doing nothing.
hi all...its Sunday. I planned to work on the house but the pest exterminators came through yesterday and well that stuff kills and gives me awful headaches.
I'm watching the vamped up trading spaces with ex's, inlaws, et al - its pretty funny. And yes Steven it does say alot about the changing face of culture - we are more in tune with media versus human interaction and look at the latter with some disdain. Hence/case in point thread central - ohhh
My cat didn't post anything while I was gone, did she?
I came home to find that not only had she been searching for things on the internet while I was gone, she was also trying - and failing - to spell her own name:
interesting looking book, vado... i was in NO yesterday for a wedding -- such a fascinatingly odd city! one of my friends, who recently moved back to town after years spent escaping it : "this is a hard city to live in. the city doesn't do you any favors." very true. he had characterized cincinnati, by the way, as an easy city to live in. we had an interesting discussion about this...
as for baltimore, mentioned above -- I have a ton of friends who moved there (after first moving to DC and then escaping DC) -- and every time I visit I can't help but think "man this place is a DUMP. i know it's cool to love baltimore and all but it ain't goin' nowhere." it's like what wonderk said -- i like to see that the city is at least trying... baltimore tries to be shitty on purpose, "ironically", and just ends up being shitty. i can't stand that town. give me pittsburgh or milwaukee any day... at least those are up-and-coming post-industrial towns with nice people living in them! baltimore is NOT charm city.
In other news, I apparently have ringworm on my knee. I have no idea how in the heck I got ringworm on my knee. I always thought you picked up ringworm from walking barefoot in dirt in the summer -- but no part of me has been exposed to the elements for months due to weather conditions!
So, anyone want to own up to having experience with ringworm and please tell me how the heck to get rid of this thing???
Clotrimazole cream, 2x/day, for six weeks. Don't miss a day and don't stop just because it looks cleared up. Also, you might go ahead and treat your feet too, as it's very easy for the stuff to migrate (via towels, especially) from one place to another and ringworm looooves feet.
The other option is to cut ALL sugar, including all breads, fruit, corn, carrots, and sweet potatoes, out of your diet for six months to a year. In other words, eat only meat and some vegetables. I'd go with the former treatment.
Thanks for the tip, lb -- I saw clotrimazole mentioned on one of the health websites. I'll try to get it at the pharmacy without a prescription. I have some weird PPO health insurance plan that I'm not used to and I don't have a GP assigned to me as per normal HMO... so I never know what to do / where to go if I just have a quick little health problem. (With my old crappy HMO I would just go to the clinic but I don't think my fancy health coverage has crappy clinics included...) I can't wait till the day we get national health!!
The bit about the towels is scary -- guess it's major bleaching laundry day for me! This thing is Uncomfortable.
Manta, if you have pets, especially cats, get them treated too, thats where you could've gotten it. Not sure how to treat an animal, though. We'd just dunk them in evil soaps or diesel, but thats sort of a farm remedy, and maybe not the best solution.
Manta- sorry to hear about the ringworm. That sucks. I find it funny your friend said that Cincinnati is an easy town to live in. I'm a native and I find it hard to live here. Hrrrumph!!!!
Liberty - I'm glad you and the fam are feeling better.
DubK - LOL about Wonder Kitty. My cat tries to do the same thing. He really likes the built in mouse pad, (constantly taps on it) as well as the arrow and Enter keys. Fortunately he's not smart enough to figure it out, otherwise I think I'd be in trouble ;o)
Now I'm afraid the Ringworm Condition is going to be exasperated by the fact that every time I shower I have to do it in an inch of pooling water.
Which brings me to another tangential advice-request:
Have any of you ever used a lease-renewal as a way to get your landlord to fix bits of your apartment? If so, how did you go about doing it?
I have a NUMBER of problems with my apartment and they need addressing; however I love the place and don't want to lose it. The bathtub drain, for example, has clogged since the day I moved in, and I can't do anything with it. Tons of liquid plumber have been poured down that thing and I pull everything that I can out of there every few days. When I tried using the old unbent wire hanger trick to snake it, I realized the drain seems to go down about an inch or so and then take a sharp 90deg. turn, from perpendicular to horizontal; I can't snake anything past that, so it's useless. My gut feeling is that the whole thing is plumbed wrong, but I'm afraid they're going to come in, take one look at it, and tell me to cut my hair or some crap.
Anyone ever squeeze major ill-defined plumbing repairs out of their landlord? I have minor wiring issues too, and closet shelving issues, and leaky radiators issues...
LB : you have me all freaked about showering! Should I use a new towel every day? eek eek eek. I didn't go near the Area during my shower for fear of spreading it, and got all nervous about the water running down my leg, over the Ringworm, and continuing to my tender, blessed feet... eeeeek!
Oh, more ringworm quickly : does putting a big bandaid over it help keep it from contact spread? I might try that as I am Freaked about it migrating / propagating. The downside is that I think it will be Uncomfortable.
manta, I've managed some major plumbing repairs. The house I live in periodically spit up water all over the kitchen floor for no apparent reason, the water pressure really sucked, and the washing machine couldn't make it through a full cycle. After having the plumber out twice on the kitchen issue over a month or so, the landlord tried to stick any further repairs on us, because it was "clearly a matter of how it is being used" (so not true, it wasn't clearly anything!) So my housemates and I wrote and sent him a strongly worded letter citing Seattle city housing code and our lease, to let him know that we knew exactly what his legal obligations are and that we weren't going to let him put that shit off on us. Magically after a weekend of him digesting this, the plumber shows up (unfortunatley unannounced), fixes the kitchen, the shower, and installs a new washing machine, and says the landlord instructed him to make everything right and he'd pick it up. So apparently being assertive and clear that you know what's legal works magic on lazy landlords.
Good idea. I need to read up on the tenant's rights over here. Unfortunately for me my landlord happens to also be a big-time lawyer. Ugh. I'll give it a shot though.
I'm wondering how to return the lease -- do I return it unsigned, with a note about the repairs? Do I try to call them? (Hard to get ahold of them / no paper trail...) The mechanics of this one are new to me.
Thread Central
Is it just me or is today the longest day ever?
Congrats JC on the move.
^ Agreed.
JC...
I will be very interested in hearing your view on Philly once you have started to settle in.
Personally, Philly, St Louis and other former Rustbelt cities are high on my list of places to move to, once i manage to get out of the Sunbelt. Besides my historical connection(s) to many of these cities I like that they are urban in the North East. Plus, going into the future will be strong communities in the future. Especially if oil (aka cheap energy) ever runs out.
They just have a lot of built in plus in my book...
Did anyone see that momentary blight on the forum page a few minutes ago? Crazy!
Yeah, today's turning out to be a long day. Ah well.
????
OK, I give up. time to go home! ciao TC!
Uhh I think so. That was rather strange.
the midwest is the new northeast. if you are looking for older cities with developed but fatigued infrastructure the boston-nyc-philly-washinton corridor is already heavily played out. the new opportunities are cleveland, detroit, milwaukee, etc. and their smaller brethren
puddles, actually, I disagree. I think some cities are more successful than others for a reason, and that has to do largely with the people that run them, not the people that build them. NYC is far from being "played out".....they are completely unaffected by the housing downturn that is plaguing most of the rest of the country and in fact, their market for architecture new hires is still growing. Some firms still can't hire people fast enough. I personally think Philly is in a great position to absorb people - like myself - who love New York but don't love its cost of living. Unless I make enough money if I move there, then that's fine.
If I'm going to move to someplace like Milwaukee or Detroit, I'm going to need to see progress....and I haven't exactly been looking but those places don't seem to be making leaps and bounds past their coastal city siblings. I'm just saying.
Also, I'd like to mention that I think it's entirely too easy for some people to start threads, especially with the name - well, you know who in the title. I don't even know if last year's "Columbia vs." threads were this out of hand. At least those were funny.
Hmmmm. That gives me an idea.
eK-
are you thinking obama vs. chuck norris or vs. yale?
just don't leave LA yet!
The slightly depressed city that I've always found intriguing is Baltimore. Tons of gorgeous houses going at rock-bottom prices, not so far north that it's as freezing as Boston or NYC, yet only a train ride away from both NYC and DC. Good schools, so therefor educated people, an interesting underground sort of arts scene... it feels like there could be something there, a potential for growth.
Hay late night 'necters,
end of a crazy week. Will be coming to NYC and partying at the Gaslight Bar on Monday night (invite on Facebook).
We hired a bunch of new people and are now rocking with a full 10 people at AFH HQ, Matt Miller went off to Uganda on Wednesday, we got propositioned by a presidential campaign and found ourselves in Oprah (d'magazine) yesterday. phew.
off to Sydney in 2 weeks - what say an Aussie party for all those down under.
/oh yeah V Day sucked too.
C
can you say which campaign?
not on archinect! also turned it down as I have enough on my plate.
Cameron, please tell them to hire me instead.
I am awake in the middle of the night because, while I'm not drunk, I was out late, and it was a rough night. Yowsers! I will say there is no better way to end an evening than with a song by Journey, though. "Don't stop believing....."
...in Oprah huh, shouldn't be too hard to figure out, unless that's to obvious...
I am up semi preparing for a Search For Shelter event in MPLS, of which by the way one of the clients is AFH. i am not on that team, but it's nice to see AFH representing.
i will try and take photos. i am working with 5 women, hopefully no HRC supporters or it could be a long weekend.
i bet you can probably work with people who don't support your candidate, beta...
we do still operate as a somewhat civil society despite the campaign, right?
anybody know if lb is better yet? she must be feeling really bad if she couldn't even take the laptop to bed with her. we miss you, liberty bell!
WonderK: I've been hearing Journey a lot more lately. Perhaps it's because I spend more time in bars and other social establishments than ever before...
"i am working with 5 women"... funny, i am working ON 5 women...don't stop berieving...
i'm betting it's b/c of the sopranos.
Oh that's right, Steven. Someone IRL made the same comment the other day.
Personally i am a fan of St. Louis and Baltimore..Lived in both when i was younger. I love old row house, housing stock. Especially in many of these cities they can be had for cheap. Even before the housing/credit slump. I imagine even better deals now.
Cameron, congrats on the growth. Sounds like some interesting things are in the works.
DubK eta al. Who doesn't like Journey?
i fucking hate journey.
I love Journey. I actually bought their greatest hits long before they used that song on the last episode of the Sopranos (which I have never seen and just learned about today, by the way).
i didn't see the episode either. in fact, i've never seen the sopranos and don't have cable. but, since 'what happened?' on shows seems to be one of the most impt things people find to talk about (state of our culture, blah blah), i knew that that episode ended with that song at 8:30 the next morning.
I'm still alive, mostly, except my brain has been replaced by a ball of phlegm. This is the worst flu I've ever experiencd and it knocked out the whole family all at once. We've lost a week of life - this coming week is goiing to be tough making up for lost time.
Good job on the phenomemology thread, Steven. Congrats on all the progress Mr. Sinclair.
OK I'm exhausted now, typing this was too much physicial activity at one time. Back to rest.
Oh, I hate Journey. Except Lovin'Touchin'Squeezin'.
glad your alive even if barely lb...and its such a nice day outside too... well i am at the office trying to get some sheet done for a change and you all better watch this video cuz its my favorite DoNtStOpBeReEvInG video and it took me about twenty minutes to find it since there are four hundred thousand pages of don't stop believing videos.
theres a fascinating interview on bob edwards show with some dude who has written a book about the history of new orleans. very worth checking out.
ned sublette is the author...
oh, i'm totally out of it...i thought that the journe rivival began with season one of the oc
Just stopping in to say, hello, and happy lazy Sunday afternoon! I will leave my apartment eventually, but I'm loving my afternoon of wasting time and doing nothing.
hi all...its Sunday. I planned to work on the house but the pest exterminators came through yesterday and well that stuff kills and gives me awful headaches.
I'm watching the vamped up trading spaces with ex's, inlaws, et al - its pretty funny. And yes Steven it does say alot about the changing face of culture - we are more in tune with media versus human interaction and look at the latter with some disdain. Hence/case in point thread central - ohhh
off to celina ohio for some field work today. leaving just in time for the snow to start joy.
I'm awake! It's 5:30 am here and I'm awake!
(It's because I have to take pictures for a midterm project and we're supposed to shoot at dawn)
(I will be going back to bed when I'm done)
(This sucks, by the way)
Aw, DubK, don't be such a bum. I get up everyday at 530!
Sarah I don't know how you do it!
My cat didn't post anything while I was gone, did she?
I came home to find that not only had she been searching for things on the internet while I was gone, she was also trying - and failing - to spell her own name:
Back to bed.
thanks folks.
nam, i'll keep ya posted as we get settled in...
moving is fucking stressful.
interesting looking book, vado... i was in NO yesterday for a wedding -- such a fascinatingly odd city! one of my friends, who recently moved back to town after years spent escaping it : "this is a hard city to live in. the city doesn't do you any favors." very true. he had characterized cincinnati, by the way, as an easy city to live in. we had an interesting discussion about this...
as for baltimore, mentioned above -- I have a ton of friends who moved there (after first moving to DC and then escaping DC) -- and every time I visit I can't help but think "man this place is a DUMP. i know it's cool to love baltimore and all but it ain't goin' nowhere." it's like what wonderk said -- i like to see that the city is at least trying... baltimore tries to be shitty on purpose, "ironically", and just ends up being shitty. i can't stand that town. give me pittsburgh or milwaukee any day... at least those are up-and-coming post-industrial towns with nice people living in them! baltimore is NOT charm city.
In other news, I apparently have ringworm on my knee. I have no idea how in the heck I got ringworm on my knee. I always thought you picked up ringworm from walking barefoot in dirt in the summer -- but no part of me has been exposed to the elements for months due to weather conditions!
So, anyone want to own up to having experience with ringworm and please tell me how the heck to get rid of this thing???
the picture on the cover of that book is pirate's alley, which is only about 1/2 block long. i worked on pirate's alley for 3 yrs.
Clotrimazole cream, 2x/day, for six weeks. Don't miss a day and don't stop just because it looks cleared up. Also, you might go ahead and treat your feet too, as it's very easy for the stuff to migrate (via towels, especially) from one place to another and ringworm looooves feet.
The other option is to cut ALL sugar, including all breads, fruit, corn, carrots, and sweet potatoes, out of your diet for six months to a year. In other words, eat only meat and some vegetables. I'd go with the former treatment.
Fungus is tough.
Thanks for the tip, lb -- I saw clotrimazole mentioned on one of the health websites. I'll try to get it at the pharmacy without a prescription. I have some weird PPO health insurance plan that I'm not used to and I don't have a GP assigned to me as per normal HMO... so I never know what to do / where to go if I just have a quick little health problem. (With my old crappy HMO I would just go to the clinic but I don't think my fancy health coverage has crappy clinics included...) I can't wait till the day we get national health!!
The bit about the towels is scary -- guess it's major bleaching laundry day for me! This thing is Uncomfortable.
Manta, if you have pets, especially cats, get them treated too, thats where you could've gotten it. Not sure how to treat an animal, though. We'd just dunk them in evil soaps or diesel, but thats sort of a farm remedy, and maybe not the best solution.
Manta- sorry to hear about the ringworm. That sucks. I find it funny your friend said that Cincinnati is an easy town to live in. I'm a native and I find it hard to live here. Hrrrumph!!!!
Liberty - I'm glad you and the fam are feeling better.
DubK - LOL about Wonder Kitty. My cat tries to do the same thing. He really likes the built in mouse pad, (constantly taps on it) as well as the arrow and Enter keys. Fortunately he's not smart enough to figure it out, otherwise I think I'd be in trouble ;o)
I always liked the Cincinatti zoo.
Now I'm afraid the Ringworm Condition is going to be exasperated by the fact that every time I shower I have to do it in an inch of pooling water.
Which brings me to another tangential advice-request:
Have any of you ever used a lease-renewal as a way to get your landlord to fix bits of your apartment? If so, how did you go about doing it?
I have a NUMBER of problems with my apartment and they need addressing; however I love the place and don't want to lose it. The bathtub drain, for example, has clogged since the day I moved in, and I can't do anything with it. Tons of liquid plumber have been poured down that thing and I pull everything that I can out of there every few days. When I tried using the old unbent wire hanger trick to snake it, I realized the drain seems to go down about an inch or so and then take a sharp 90deg. turn, from perpendicular to horizontal; I can't snake anything past that, so it's useless. My gut feeling is that the whole thing is plumbed wrong, but I'm afraid they're going to come in, take one look at it, and tell me to cut my hair or some crap.
Anyone ever squeeze major ill-defined plumbing repairs out of their landlord? I have minor wiring issues too, and closet shelving issues, and leaky radiators issues...
LB : you have me all freaked about showering! Should I use a new towel every day? eek eek eek. I didn't go near the Area during my shower for fear of spreading it, and got all nervous about the water running down my leg, over the Ringworm, and continuing to my tender, blessed feet... eeeeek!
put one of those nice wood slat platforms in your shower to elevate you off the water, plus, it will give a nice zen/spa feeling to your bathroom.
Oh, more ringworm quickly : does putting a big bandaid over it help keep it from contact spread? I might try that as I am Freaked about it migrating / propagating. The downside is that I think it will be Uncomfortable.
manta, I've managed some major plumbing repairs. The house I live in periodically spit up water all over the kitchen floor for no apparent reason, the water pressure really sucked, and the washing machine couldn't make it through a full cycle. After having the plumber out twice on the kitchen issue over a month or so, the landlord tried to stick any further repairs on us, because it was "clearly a matter of how it is being used" (so not true, it wasn't clearly anything!) So my housemates and I wrote and sent him a strongly worded letter citing Seattle city housing code and our lease, to let him know that we knew exactly what his legal obligations are and that we weren't going to let him put that shit off on us. Magically after a weekend of him digesting this, the plumber shows up (unfortunatley unannounced), fixes the kitchen, the shower, and installs a new washing machine, and says the landlord instructed him to make everything right and he'd pick it up. So apparently being assertive and clear that you know what's legal works magic on lazy landlords.
Good idea. I need to read up on the tenant's rights over here. Unfortunately for me my landlord happens to also be a big-time lawyer. Ugh. I'll give it a shot though.
I'm wondering how to return the lease -- do I return it unsigned, with a note about the repairs? Do I try to call them? (Hard to get ahold of them / no paper trail...) The mechanics of this one are new to me.
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